Tech firm Twilio has launched its AI-based Autopilot platform, designed to offer multi-channel chatbot experiences for customers, while providing developers with a seamless tool that can be applied to various channels such as Slack, Alexa and Google Assistant, without the need for tailoring for each

chatbot

(Credit: Pixabay)

Talking to AI chatbots can be a stilted endeavour at the best of times, but one tech company is aiming to change that with the launch of its new service offering multi-channel chatbot experiences “that don’t suck”.

California-based Twilio yesterday announced its Twilio Autopilot – a fully programmable, conversational AI platform that allows its business users to build bots, interactive voice responses (IVRs) and home assistant apps.

Aimed at customers who want a quick, self-service option when interacting with businesses, it’s designed to enable developers to provide a hassle-free experience that offers all the information they need.

Director of product and engineering at Twilio Nico Acosta said: “Machine learning is the most transformative technology of our time.

“However, until now, the tools available for building machine learning-powered conversational experiences have been too complex and not optimised for developers, which has led to poor customer experiences.

“We built Autopilot to make companies successful in building bots that delight users, instead of frustrating them.”

multi-channel chatbot experiences
Director of product and engineering at Twilio Nico Acosta said (Credit: Twilio)

How do the multi-channel chatbot experiences work?

The Autopilot platform uses conversational patterns to automate the initial, information-gathering phase of talking to customers.

It then predicts whether a human is required to handle the discussion, in which case it will hand off the conversation to such a person, sharing the context of the interaction thus far so the customers don’t not have to repeat themselves.

Twilio designed its tool to enable developers to write their applications once and then deploy them to any support channel without adding any additional code, including IVR, SMS, chat, Alexa, Slack and Google Assistant.

The company claims its Autopilot help business users develop intelligent bots faster, personalise the tone and conversational style of all customer interactions, and train their bots to get smarter over time using machine learning.

According to market analyst Gartner, only 4% of enterprises having deployed conversational interfaces but 38% are planning to or are actively experimenting with the idea.

It also claims by 2021, 15% of all customer service interactions will be completely handled by AI, an increase of 400% from 2017.